Puppy Training Tricks

One of the most exciting parts of having a new puppy is teaching it how to do tricks. Having a well-trained puppy, not only makes for a less stressful experience for owners, but having a puppy that knows tricks is a fun way to interact with your pup and impress your friends. While trying to train your puppy some of your favorite tricks, it is important to remember that you are dealing with a young, energy filled animal. With this being said, it must be accepted that teaching a puppy a new trick can be a long and tedious process and the owner must not get frustrated or short tempered with their puppy. Puppy training should be a fun bonding experience for both the owner and the puppy. As a general rule, teaching your puppy tricks should be based on praise and positive enforcement. While training puppies, many people feel a clicker is useful as an audible way of communicating to the puppy that they have completed a positive action. The use of treats and other positive reinforcement can be used as a way to tell your puppy that they are behaving appropriately. Below are a few tips on teaching a puppy to perform common tricks.

Sit: Teaching a puppy to sit is most commonly done with the use of a treat. Introduce the command of "sit", while holding a treat in front of a puppy's nose and pulling it up and back will cause your puppy to follow the treat. When the treat is high enough, the puppy will look back until they have to sit to continue to follow the treat. At this point say "yes" or use your clicker and give the puppy the treat. Repeat this process until eventually your puppy should begin to sit without you having to pull the treat over their head. Your puppy will learn to sit with the command and will patiently await their praise and treat.

Stay: Training your puppy how to stay is very similar to teaching them how to sit. With this use of a treat and a clicker, reward your puppy for not moving after you use the "stay" command. Through a great deal of practice and patience, this command will become easy for your puppy to follow.

Come: Training your puppy to come involves distancing yourself from your puppy and alternating between calling their name and saying the command "come." This training can be an enjoyable game between you and your puppy. When your puppy does respond to your call and comes to your feet, reward them with a click and a treat. Repeat this game and your puppy will eventually eagerly respond to the command of "come."

Lay Down: Teaching your dog to lie down is another training process that involves the use of treats. While your puppy is in the sitting position, bringing a treat to the floor will cause your puppy to follow the treat and enter the lying position. When your puppy has reached the desired position, quickly say "yes" or use the clicker and reward them with a treat.